Fatty Acid Composition of Grain of Einkorn and Its Relatives

Abstract

Einkorn (Triticum monococcum L.) has a number of benefits attributed to the quality of its grain. Nevertheless, einkorn oil is little studied. Given a renewed interest in this crop, the purpose of the study was to investigate the lipid contents and fatty acid composition of oil from diploid wheat grain. Oil was extracted from dried whole wheat kernels by Soxhlet procedure. Fatty acid composition was determined by gas chromatography. The oil yield from the diploid wheat grain varied from 2.830.27% dry basis in Triticum monococcum var. sofianum Stranski to 4.460.49% in Triticum sinskayae A.Filat. et Kurk. Six major fatty acids were detected in all the wheat species under investigation. They are ranked in order of decreasing levels as follows: linoleic > oleic > palmitic > linolenic > stearic > palmitoleic. Ploidy doubling brought no significant alterations in fatty acid composition of T. monococcum grain. T. monococcum var. sofianum had the most beneficial unsaturated/saturated ratio (5.3) and the lowest the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 (9:1). Triticum boeoticum Boiss. (wild progenitor of einkorn) was inferior to domestic diploid wheat in terms of unsaturated fatty acid amounts, despite the very high total oil content (4.190.48%). As wheat oil is used in the cosmetics industry and given the surprisingly high oil yields from the diploid wheat grain, the collection accessions are worth considering through the lens of this trend in wheat products. However, none of the studied accessions can be recommended as breakthrough advantageous because of the ratios of omega-6/omega-3 of not lower than 9:1.